Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to user interface for web-based applications, and in particular, is directed towards standardizing command interfaces for web applications on various websites.
Description of the Related Art
The proliferation of web-based applications gives users access to a broad range of familiar classes of web-based applications across various websites. For example, many different websites provide classes of applications such as video hosting applications, document editors, email systems, and the like. The familiarity with a class of web-based application, however, is often not transferrable from one website to another because of the varying user interface for different instances of the same class of web-based applications. For example, a video player application on a first website may use CTRL-P as a native command for the PLAY command, whereas another instance of a video player application on a second website may use ALT-P as a native command for the PLAY command. Even though the user is familiar with the video player application on the first website, the user cannot leverage her knowledge to operate the video player application on the second website.
Many web-based applications also provide the ability for third party developers to develop add-on functionality for an existing web-based application via scripts, plugins, or other application programming extensions. However, third party developers have a difficult time making users aware of such add-on functionality due to limited distribution channels and difficulties in installing such features. Generally, to obtain add-on functionality for an application, users have to know that such functionality is available, for example by searching the Internet for scripts for a given application, then determine which ones are of interest, and finally understand how to install such features. Many users are not sophisticated enough to perform these tasks and thus do not benefit from the add-on functionality offered by third party developers.